I hope you have seen Sandra Bullock’s new movie, The Blind Side. If not, you should make plans to see it soon. It’s a great film; a feel-good flick that does more to your heart than just make you want to skip on over to the projects and pick out the largest kid there, adopt him, develop his athletic abilities, and make sure he goes to your alma mater.
Seriously, the movie is a very real picture of what it looks like to be Christ to the down and out. The Tuohy’s decision to take Michael Oher into their home and the difficulty of that move makes you realize that compassion isn’t always easy. But I think everyone whose life was involved with Michael’s was deeply touched and changed. (Even Sandra Bullock turned down the role three times until she met the Tuohys. She said she took the role because she’d finally met Christians who walked the walk as a family.) And hopefully, those who see the movie will be inspired as well.
While the Beatitudes say that the meek will inherit the earth, I think we all know that sometimes compassion requires guts. I love how Leigh Anne Tuohy didn’t let her fear of the bad part of town keep her from going to Michael’s home or taking him shopping. She also wasn’t afraid of finding Michael’s drug-addicted mother or sitting on that nasty couch in the projects in her pristine white pants. She reached out to others, physically touching them and meeting the needs of those who couldn’t meet their own, which sounds a lot like something Jesus would do.
Leigh Anne is a spunky Southern girl. I love that about her. (She’s got some zingers in this movie that made me laugh out loud. And I didn’t cry nearly as much as I thought I would.) But more than that, she (and her family) makes me want to make a difference in someone else’s life by loving and accepting them, by giving to them and expecting nothing in return. The course of Michael’s life was radically altered thanks to the Tuohys. I guess we all have that opportunity. The question is, are we willing to get uncomfortable in order to take it? I’m speaking to myself when I say, “Stop worrying about what other people will think. Stop worrying about someone taking advantage of you. Give all you’ve got and love with all you have.”
While we may not be able to love someone into the NFL, we can love the girls in our ministries. I’m currently walking through some tough issues with the girls in my small group, and I feel like I’m being attacked. I hope that my actions and words consistently point them to Christ. Yes, it’s uncomfortable and hard, and my flesh wants to respond in ways that aren’t very loving. But seeing The Blind Side reminded me that there is hope for everyone, and that the choice is mine as to how I respond when I see a need.
Read more about the film here.
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